I don’t mean to mini-rant here, but… Which would you do: fight non-violent people or feed hungy children?
I’m an anarchist, so I advocate small government (and theoretically the eventual elimination of government all-together). Accordingly, I believe the solution to social problems such as hunger need to come from private means, not governmental ones. So, I’d most like to see the huge amounts of money wasted on the Drug War and Oil Wars given back to the taxpayers. However, just to put our society’s priorities in place (namely that of conservatives), let me point out something about the government’s spending habits:
With the money the United States government spends waging a war on nonviolent drug “offenders”, all the people in the world could be fed, clothed, and schooled.
Annually, the United States spends over $50 billion a year for the “war on drugs”. Basic education could be provided for everyone in the world for $6 billion dollars. Water and sanitation for everyone in the world could be provided for $9 billion dollars. Reproductive health for all women in the world could be provided for $12 billion dollars. Basic health and nutrition for EVERYONE IN THE WORLD could be provided for $13 billion dollars. That’s all annually.
The U.S. government also spends over $400 billion a year on “defense”. That’s not including war costs, such as the Iraq war which cost over $300 billion so far. Hmmm, perhaps feeding and educating everyone in the world might reduce terrorism more than stealing oil and killing civilians.
If we’re going to let them spend our money, why do we let them spend it like this?
Like I said, I’m an anarchist. So, I’d rather see the taxes given back to the people from which the taxes were stolen. However, if they are going to spend the stolen money, why not feed & educate children rather than jail non-violent drug “offenders”?
I guess George Carlin is right when he says that the true owners of this country want an undereducated populace.